Reggie Evans, Nets throttle hapless Sixers (With Video)

The Sixers' Thaddeus Young, left, and Spencer Hawes try to defend as Brooklyn's Reggie Evans drives to the basket early in the Nets' win Tuesday night. Evans had a monster night, with 17 points and 24 rebounds. (Associated Press

Evans made Tuesday night a forgettable one for the 76ers, who were torched by the Nets, 104-83.

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The Sixers couldn't seem to get anything going. Conversely, their embattled frontcourt couldn't contend with Evans, who finished with 17 points and 24 rebounds. Evans had all of those boards after three quarters ... compared to the Sixers' 23 collective rebounds to that point. It took Evans coming out of a lopsided game for the Sixers to finally overtake him in rebounding.

"I think he sees Sixers jerseys and it's sort of like the red cape to the bull," Sixers coach Doug Collins said.

Said Evans: "I'm just doing what my role needs to be. Ain't nothing toward them or anything like that. Just doing my best to get the win."

Playing for pride and playing the role of spoiler were far more important, the Sixers had said, than playing out the string. Last weekend, the Sixers suffered a loss that cast them from the playoff chase and tagged their final six regular-season games as somewhat meaningless.

There's no rebounding from that.

There was no rebounding in general Tuesday, not with Evans in the building. He eclipsed the 20-rebound mark for the ninth time this season, accounting for almost a quarter of the 41 times that's happened in the league this season.

"We wanted to come in here and hit them upside their head," Evans said.

Mission accomplished.

Overall, Brooklyn outrebounded the Sixers by 33 (67-34). It's the most rebounds the Sixers have given up all year, eclipsing the 57 pulled down by previously winless Detroit Nov. 14. Their defense down low was equally as ineffective, allowing the Nets to outscore them, 58-30, in the middle.

"There was no disguise tonight," Collins said of the Nets' offense. "It was, 'OK, we're going in the paint.'"

Couple Evans' dominance with the finesse shooting touch of Brook Lopez (13-for-22, 29 points, 11 rebounds), and Brooklyn had all the pieces it needed to throttle the Sixers in the paint.

"I think they just complement each other well," said the Sixers' Spencer Hawes, who didn't have an answer for either of the post players. "Brook draws so much attention and it gives Reggie an opportunity to do what he does best to go in there and -- not just with the rebounds, but efficiency-wise. Both of them kicked our (butts) tonight."

This one could be written off as "just one of those nights" for the Sixers (31-46), but they have had more than a few of them this season. They've lost three of four and don't appear to be handling the role of spoiler all that well, with Collins pulling his starters early in the fourth quarter.

Rather than challenging the Nets, who needed a win and some help to stay alive in the Atlantic Division title chase, the Sixers crumbled. Rather than putting their best guys on the floor late, their lineup featured roster afterthoughts Charles Jenkins and Justin Holiday.

"It was just one of those nights," Collins said, "with us playing (Wednesday) night, I said we've got to get some other guys out there and let some other guys play a little bit."

Another harbinger that Evans would have a solid game? He had a double-double before the Nets had even put the wraps on the first quarter. Fans at Barclays Center began chanting his first name when, with 19 seconds left in the first, Evans grabbed his 10th rebound.

The Sixers actually closed to within five of Brooklyn in the opening minutes of the second quarter, with four assists from Evan Turner -- including two on alley-oop lobs to Thaddeus Young and Dorell Wright -- to help the Sixers cut the Nets' lead to 36-31.

That didn't last, however. A 14-3 run, fueled by Evans' rebounding, limited the Sixers' offensive possessions to one shot and sent the Nets into the locker room with a 56-38 halftime lead.

The Sixers had no shot at mounting a rally, not with Jrue Holiday moving the ball so poorly. His one assist tied a season-low he established March 25 at Utah. Together, the Sixers had 10 assists on 42 buckets.

The outcome of this game, like most of the night's rebounds, were out of the Sixers' hands.